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I don't like Array type questions

tammo
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8 years 6 months ago #127461 by tammo

I don't like Array type questions was created by tammo

I don't like Array type questions....
In our version of a responsive template for LimeSurvey we paid (and still do) a lot of attention to the responsiveness of Array type questions. But we do that with some pain in our hearts.

Why?
Well, we think there is hardly a justified case for using Array type questions in surveys that will be shown on a mobile phone or another small screen. Array questions have now been made responsive in our template through a Javascript plugin that works, but may leave the respondent a little puzzled. While on a desktop screen the array looks like a table with rows, using the Javascript plugin

What is the difference between desktop screens and mobile screens for surveys
It is all about screen width: you actually cannot predict the screen width and therefore wide questions are "dangerous". We have seen examples of Array type questions with more then 10 answer options and more than 10 lines. On a mobile phone this explodes to 10 questions, each with 10 answer options. The respondent will lose the overview. We even had a question from a user of our template how to deal with an Array question with 20 answer options. When I asked het to rewrite the question into something with less options of to otherwise completely revise the question, her answer was: "It is in the design, so we have to do it. If you cannot give us a good solution, we will use another template." I hope she found something....

But apart from screen width, people filling in surveys on mobile phones will need:

less question options
less questions alltogether
less open text questions
a real responsive design

Please think with us: what could be a good set of guidelines for people designing mobile surveys. And having said that, is this really still a question? Shouldn't be mobile be the norm, unless you are sure that people will not fill in using a mobile phone?

Tammo ter Hark at Respondage
For Limesurvey reporting, education and customized themes
respondage.nl

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DenisChenu
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8 years 6 months ago #127464 by DenisChenu

Replied by DenisChenu on topic I don't like Array type questions

Hi,

I already have a "near" ready plugin to get browser information in a survey based on github.com/cbschuld/Browser.php (didn't use the big browser.php due to memory issue).
Actually i don't get 'isMobileDevice' and 'isTablet' but can be updated.

After : you can use this informtion in your survey (condition).

For array : i already use 3 different method ..... in client project ...
- Use 'label' to be like a 'button" : good for array/5 or array/little answer
- Use "display:block" : each line look like a question, look at code to add at end of template.css in SkeletonQuest

Denis

Code:

@media handled,screen and (max-width: 768px) {
table.question tr,table.question th,table.question td {display:block;}
table.question .dontread{display:none}
table.question tbody th.answertext, table.question tbody th.arraycaptionleft {text-align: left;}
table.question .read{position:relative;top:0;left:0}
col {display:block;width:100% !important}
table.question input[type="radio"], table.question input[type="checkbox"], {
    left: 0.7em; 
    margin: -0.7em 0 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 50%;
    z-index: 1;
}
 
table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1), table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) th, table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.answertextright:hover, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.dual_scale_separator:hover, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.ddarrayseparator:hover {
    background-color: #fff;
}
table.question tbody tr{border-color:#ccc;border-width:1px 0}
table.question tbody td{border-color:#ddd #ccc;border-width:0 1px 1px}
table.question tbody th{border-color:#ccc;border-width:1px 1px 1px}

.js td.radio-item:hover {
    background: #1d296b none repeat scroll 0 0;
    color: #fff;
}
.js td.radio-item.checked,.js td.radio-item.checked label {
    background-color: #6789a0;color:#fff;
}
.js td.radio-item:hover,.js td.radio-item:hover label,.js td.radio-item label:hover {
    background: transparent;
    color: #fff;
}
.js td.radio-item label:hover,.js td.radio-item.checked label,.js td.radio-item:hover label,.js td.radio-item label:hover {
    background: transparent;
    color: #fff;
}
table.question tbody td {
    text-align: left;padding:0.2em 0.5em;
}
tr.radio-list td, tr.checkbox-list td {
    position: relative;
}
tr.radio-list input[type="radio"], tr.checkbox-list input[type="checkbox"] {
    left: 0.7em;
    margin: -0.7em 0 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 50%;
    z-index: 1;
}
table.question tr.radio-list td ,table.question tr.checkbox-list td {
padding:0;
}
tr.radio-list td label, tr.checkbox-list td label {
    border-color: #ccc;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 1px 0;
    box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(190, 186, 218, 0.3) inset;
    cursor: pointer;
    display: block;
    min-height: 1.4em;
    padding: 0.8em 1em 0.8em 2.5em;
    vertical-align: middle;
}
td.radio-item label, td.checkbox-item label {
    background-color: #fff;
}
table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1), table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) th, table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.answertextright:hover, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.dual_scale_separator:hover, .js table.question tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) td.ddarrayseparator:hover {
    background-color: #fff;
}
table.question {border-width:0}
table.question tbody td{border-width:0 0 1px}
table.question tbody tr{border-width:0 0 1px}
table.question tbody th{border-width:1px 1px 2px}
table.question tbody th.hide-content{padding:0;height:0;overflow:hidden;border-width:0 0 1px;visibility:visible}
table.question label small{font-size:1em}
}

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.

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tammo
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8 years 6 months ago #127466 by tammo

Replied by tammo on topic I don't like Array type questions

Hi Denis,

thanks for your response. We may try this, but it goes beyond the question: is using an Array type question in a survey that may possibly be filled in on a mobile phone good design? I know it is possible, but should we really pester our respondents with that?

Tammo

Tammo ter Hark at Respondage
For Limesurvey reporting, education and customized themes
respondage.nl

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holch
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8 years 6 months ago #127467 by holch

Replied by holch on topic I don't like Array type questions

I hear and feel your pain. But this is rather not a problem of array questions, but of the person creating a research.

Array questions are fine, they just shouldn't be overused. On a big screen, they help to fill in quite a lot of data quickly and easy. On a small screen you don't have this. If you would get rid of arrays in general, it would be a pain on big and small screens... ;-)

However, I agree that for certain target groups "mobile first" should really be taken serious. But it is not just a "design thing". There is a general tendency in the research industry to build questionnaires that are too long, too annoying, too boring, etc.

The problem is with institutes, but also (and often mainly) with end clients. You can tell them a thousand times, that it is not advisable to do this or to that, but mostly they think you don't want to give them what they want, you want to save money, etc. If I would want to save money I would just do as they request, because the time consulting them is quite expensive. I would just put their requests and give them their "results" (knowing that they are worthless). Unfortunately today, on client side, there are often very inexperienced people in charge of research and they are often under a lot of pressure from their internal clients. So the say "yes" to any request they get from marketing managers or product managers (also because they have a higher standing in the company) and then of course ignore any advice or warning from a research institute (they can't go back on what they already promised, or they don't want to).

So even if we get rid of array questions in mobile, they will find another annoying way to ask the same questions. I fear, that it will get even more annoying.

But you know how it is: "Bullshit in, bullshit out". I am not happy about this tendency in research.

I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.

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DenisChenu
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8 years 6 months ago - 8 years 6 months ago #127468 by DenisChenu

Replied by DenisChenu on topic I don't like Array type questions

You don't know the power of CSS3,

Default (workstation)

With phone

or

Denis
PS : findUserInformation is here : git.framasoft.org/SondagePro-LimeSurvey-...in/findUserAgentInfo

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.

Attachments:

Last edit: 8 years 6 months ago by DenisChenu.

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holch
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8 years 6 months ago #127473 by holch

Replied by holch on topic I don't like Array type questions

Denis, I am aware of what can be done with CSS3. But it solves only part of the problem - how a matrix question is displayed.

But it doesn't solve the problem that it is tedious to fill out so many questions (a matrix question is actually many questions packed into one). E.g. if you have matrix/array question with 10 subquestions, this will turn the array into 10 different questions. It will make the array question a lot easier to answer, but you now have 10 questions, so it is long as well. At least the problem of matrix questions being difficult to fill in on mobile phones has been solved. The tedious part not so much. ;-)

I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.

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tammo
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8 years 6 months ago #127475 by tammo

Replied by tammo on topic I don't like Array type questions

The solution as Denis describes is already in our template (Premium version), but like Holch says: this display variant may work, but is not by default good design.

What I am looking for are "good design guidelines" for surveys in 2015 and beyond. Not everything that is technically possible is good for a respondent...

Tammo ter Hark at Respondage
For Limesurvey reporting, education and customized themes
respondage.nl

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holch
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8 years 6 months ago #127477 by holch

Replied by holch on topic I don't like Array type questions

To be honest Tammo, I don't think that there can be something like "good design guidelines" in general. Either it is too general (which makes it mostly worthless), or it applies only to a few specific use cases / target groups.

My "good design guidelines" for surveys is generally asking the client: "Would you fill this in (complete and honest)?"

This helps sometimes, but not always.

I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.

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tammo
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8 years 6 months ago #127478 by tammo

Replied by tammo on topic I don't like Array type questions

Holch, as you describe, it depends on the person that is desiging the survey.

But people desiging surveys mainly do that on large screens and researchers (that of course aware of the existence of mobile phones) may tend to see only the large screen and forget altogether about people filling in on mobile phones.

Being a consultant, I would like to point those people to resources for "good design" of surveys for mobile phones. Do you know of those resources.

And of course, if they really want to design a bad survey, they have all rights to do so. I may even help them doing that, if they really insist on that. But at least I want to have warned them. Currently it is mostly my experience against their ideas... I want to have more solid arguments in my tol kit, trying to convince them to design better surveys.

Tammo ter Hark at Respondage
For Limesurvey reporting, education and customized themes
respondage.nl

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DenisChenu
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8 years 6 months ago #127485 by DenisChenu

Replied by DenisChenu on topic I don't like Array type questions

Hi,

The most problem i enconter is :
- Here, i have the old survey we do in face to face : put it on web please ...

In face to face and a paper : you can put some 'table' question. Surveyor understand that (and sometimes fill the survey is too big to do it in 10 minutes like the Chief said).
The web survey must be more simple : not more than 5 question in a page (including MULTIPLE question like array).

The array is a concept for survey designer , not for user who want to answer . Sometimes it's better to have 4 times the same page (for example) with 5 question about the same object than 5 array with 4 different object but same answer possibility.

Denis

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.

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tpartner
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8 years 6 months ago #127516 by tpartner

Replied by tpartner on topic I don't like Array type questions

I'm not going to get involved in a discussion about whether arrays are a good or bad thing but here's a JavaScript solution to arrays on mobile devices - it converts them to drop-downs - manual.limesurvey.org/Workarounds:_Manip...s_on_smaller_screens

Cheers,
Tony Partner
Solutions, code and workarounds presented in these forums are given without any warranty, implied or otherwise.

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Mazi
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8 years 6 months ago - 8 years 6 months ago #127532 by Mazi

Replied by Mazi on topic I don't like Array type questions

For all German speaking people: There is a good summary "think mobile and respondentfirst" available at de.slideshare.net/dennissew/think-mobile...first-german-version

The English version at de.slideshare.net/dennissew/think-mobile-first-english-version seems to be partially broken.

...and especially for Tammo: A Dutch version: de.slideshare.net/dennissew/think-mobile-first-30745723

Best regards/Beste Grüße,
Dr. Marcel Minke
Need Help? We offer professional Limesurvey support: survey-consulting.com
Contact: marcel.minke(at)survey-consulting.com

Last edit: 8 years 6 months ago by Mazi.

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